When the temperature drops and the days become shorter, few things taste is good to me as hot homemade soup particularly when I’ve been working outside. A few years ago, a friend gave me the recipe from a famous French restaurant for robust tomato soup and it’s the best I’ve ever had.
It starts with fresh tomatoes, if you can find some with good flavor. Just peel and dice enough to make four cups. If you don’t have fresh, you may use canned. Pour the tomatoes into a large saucepan along with four cups of tomato juice and let this simmer for about 30 minutes.
Now, for a little flavor boost, one of my favorite herbs to use with tomatoes is basil. So, it just makes good sense to use it in tomato soup. Now, one of the easiest ways I found to preserve or store basil is to chop it and freeze in ice trays in a form of little cubes like this. It’s a great way to take the flavor of summer while into the winter. This recipe calls for 12 leaves. So, I’m going to use four of these cubes. I just dropped them into the cooked tomatoes and let them melt. Then I pour the tomatoes and basil into a blender and blend them until they’re smooth. Then I returned the mixture to the pan and add one stick of unsalted butter, one cup of whipping cream, and about a fourth of a teaspoon of cracked pepper and salt to taste.
Now, just heat this through and it’ll be ready in a few minutes, with the cream and butter certainly not low cal but hey we’ve got to leave a little. And not only will this warm you up on a cold day, it’s ideal for serving around the holidays. From the garden, I’m Allan Smith.
For more on this topic and other information, just check out my website pallensmith.com. And make sure you watch me on the MBC today show on December 6 and 8 where I’m going to show some holiday tips.
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